This invention is related to a medical boot for avoiding ulcers, and a supporting splint for treating a contracture condition of the patient's foot.
My co-pending application, and my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,245 which was issued Jul. 13, 1993 for "Protective Boot Structure" disclose a soft medical boot for covering a patient's foot to prevent decubitus ulcers. The boot has panels formed of a soft material which are stitched around their edges. Occasionally the stitched edges tend to abrade the patient's skin.
In my co-pending patent application, I disclosed an orthotic splint having a leg portion and a foot portion. A heel device allows the user to quickly and easily set the splint at three positive positions. The three positions are 0.degree. for holding the foot at a normal upright position when the user's leg is in a horizontal position; -30.degree. for plantar flexion; and +10.degree. for dorsi flexion.
Patients with a contracture condition, that is the foot tends to droop downward from the normal upright position, require a periodic adjustment of the position of the foot to stretch the leg muscles. The orthotic splint of my co-pending application provides adjustments in fairly large increments. The increments are determined by the location of the locking pin holes in the heel locking device. Patients having a contracture condition can be better assisted by having their foot position adjusted in smaller increments.